Workers get irked by slow IT, survey shows

British firms investing in high volume scanning should ensure they have the computer systems in place to deal with all the documents they are converting to online backup servers.

According to a recent survey, one of the biggest bugbears among office staff in the 21st century is slow IT systems.

While having information available at the touch of a button is preferable to having to trawl through stacks of paperwork, having an antiquated computer system that is incapable of presenting data instantaneously could be a huge source of frustration.

The new Samsung report saw researchers speak to more than 1,500 people and found that slow IT systems are the biggest cause of office aggro.

Almost seven in ten (68 per cent) cited this as the most annoying aspect of working life, illustrating just how important it is for employers to invest in document scanning and storage that allows workers to quickly access the information they need.

The survey also found that more than a third (34 per cent) of employees get miffed at the behaviour of colleagues and more specifically their habit of talking too loudly on the phone.

A further 27 per cent were irked by team mates who left the paper tray empty in the printer or photocopier.

When asked if IT sluggishness was still common in UK offices, Work Foundation senior researcher Wilson Wong said that it unfortunately is.

"We found that in our survey of employees last year where we asked them about their employment deal, two-thirds of the organisations sampled mentioned IT and their IT tools falling down as a major irritant," he said.

"I experience sluggish, non-functioning IT here and it is hugely annoying."

The expert added most IT departments have suitably adapted to the demands of modern workers in terms of flexible working and allowing the use of new devices.

"More tricky is whether managers feel comfortable with remote or flexible working – [there are] issues of trust and the quality of their relationship with their reports," Mr Wong said.